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Saturday, December 14, 2013

Christmas is Coming!

Photo from http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/

Well, this post has been a LONG time in coming!!! For the last two months I have not been feeling well. I have been losing my hair for the last two years. I have been having fatigue issues on and off for that long too. I have noticed other changes in the body including weight gain no matter it seems what I do. In the last two months things have really gone down hill with lots of eczema issues and not gastric issues. I think I may have irritable bowl problems or celiac disease. I have an appointment in about a month with a gastro. doctor in about a month. I am hoping to find the issues then. My autoimmune system seems to be in overdrive lately and I am not sure why. I had a high reactive c protein result about two years ago and that got me worried. Since then I seem to have systemic inflammation. I think it may be from the poorly done umbilical hernia repair. I have an appointment in January to see a hernia repair specialist too.

After not eating gluten for the last two weeks and cutting out
carbonated beverages with caffeine I feel better but still not well. I
am not sure if it is because I have irritable bowl disease or if there
is celiac problems and not my gut is so damaged that it is going to take
a while to fix. I have to see if I can get my health issues straightened out. At this point I just want to feel better and I will do what I need to in order for that to happen.

Life at home, since we moved, is tough. With the fall out from Bill and Bailey (mostly Bill in this instance) the house is SO much quieter with them gone. No constant running someone to the urgent care, hospital, or having emergency personnel show up at my house (Firemen or EMTs). No medical emergencies of any sort. I have to say I like it! My oldest son came to my house about a month or so ago. With the addition of Jerrin to the house it has caused some problems but that is because he is not used to how I live and how to behave in the house. He has been living with his girlfriend and her mother for awhile and I think the manners I taught him and other import life lessons went out the window. I am glad to report though he is coming a long nicely and making progress in being an adult. I am thrilled! He is a good kid, a good son, but he needs to grow up and face what life has to offer.

Living with John full-time has been rough. I think we have reached a compromise for now. One of our biggest problems is we want to share a bed at night but he snores so loudly I can't sleep. Or he sleeps lightly but snores little to none. The problem is when he wakes in the morning after a night like that I slept pretty well but he did not. We now have a bed in the living room. It works well for extra seating, especially for the children, and John can have a bed where his snoring will not bother anyone. We are currently waiting for his insurance benefits to run out and I can put him on my insurance. Hopefully then we will be able to get him to a doctor and see if there is something that can be done with his snoring. We want to share a room but on the other hand we both like to sleep. That makes life tough! LOL

Halloween was NOT fun at ALL. I was SO pissed at the time! It was the last day that we had to get out of the Gilbert house. I had to schedule carpet cleaners there for that day. I did not have the money to do it until then. With the fall out with Bill and Bailey they did not do repairs to their room and Bailey had bleached the carpet outside the bathroom. So I had to take care of that work too. So as the carpet cleaners were there trying to clean the carpet (John, the little kids, Maddi and Dimitri were there...I was at work) someone from the rental company, Time2Rent, showed up unannounced. He decided to do the home inspection right then. My husband was texting me. They guy was walking all over the freshly cleaned carpet and the Sears carpet cleaners told my husband that the warranty for the carpet was now voided due the guy doing the inspection. He was literally walking ALL over the wet carpet! He pointed stuff out to my husband saying we had to fix it including all the nail holes in the wall. When John texted me this I was livid because they did not repair those before I moved in. It is my fault though because I never filled in the move in sheet. So it is my word against theirs. The guy from the property rental company pointed out several issues and said we had to take care of them to get the deposit back. We complained but said okay. So John went back and took paint off the wall to get a color match. Initially it was wrong so we had to go back again to get another shade. John spackled and painted the walls while Maddi and Dimitri cleaned the house in general. It was a MAJOR undertaking! We got everything squared away. I was pissed on Halloween because I go to look at the house in the evening and the paint color on the wall was a disaster (that was the first color try). I was so ticked I almost did not take the children trick-or-treating. In the end the kids were crying wanting to go out so I stopped, alone with them, and took them around for a bit. When I got home John was annoyed with me, for good reason, but I convinced him, Maddi and Dimiti to take the children out again for Halloween. They did and all had a nice time. The kids were thrilled going trick-or-treating. I am glad they had fun in the end.

Thanksgiving was nice at the house. We are VERY thin at the house. We have NO money and I am having a hard time paying all the bills. That being said, we got the Christmas money from my in-laws. It was money for us to buy our family Christmas gifts but we had to spend the money on food. That was how it had to be. We were able to have a nice Thanksgiving. By this time I had figured out I have an issue with maybe gluten and caffeine and/or carbonated drinks. I had been working on cutting these things from my diet. John made a gluten free Thanksgiving stuffing for me. It was AMAZING! I loved every bit of it! Thanksgiving was nice and mostly quiet.

Yesterday we celebrated the children's 6th birthday! Where did the time go? Since we did not have much in money get got the children a couple of small gifts. We got two small gifts each. I got each of the children an insulated cup with a lid and straw. I have one and I notice they are ALL the time wanting to drink from my cup so I got them each their own cup. The one small problem we had is that they cup we got for Margaret came without the lid and straw. So I was sad she did not get her cup but her actual gift, a superhero cape, was a HUGE hit! We also got Joseph a superhero cape. James's second gift was a large checkers set. He has really gotten into playing checkers with my husband on his phone. He is a HORRIBLE loser but John plays with him anyways...lol.

In a mere two weeks is Christmas. We are out of money and James has been wishing hard for a telescope, drums and a Kindle. The only thing Margaret has mentioned wanting is a Furby. I have no idea why but she is fascinated with Furby but basically Joseph and Margaret are excited to open presents. They can't wait. My only problem is that we have no money to go Christmas shopping. This year has been one of the worst for their birthday and Christmas since I have no money to go shopping for them. I feel bad. I wanted to get everyone new bikes. They LOVE their bikes but James has worn his out and Margaret needs a bigger bike. Joseph has a scooter but I found a lightweight balance bike that I think would work for him. I just need to find a way to buy it. It may be a VERY thin Christmas this year. If it is we will try and make it up to the children when we get out income tax refund. Maybe I can say Santa got lost? I don't know. I will think of something. I am good at that....lol.

If you would like to help with an item on their Christmas list you can find items and or ideas on the Kids Christmas List on Amazon... http://amzn.com/w/18Z2ID38EGU5H
Many of the items are similar items with different price points. I have been having fun "window" shopping for them because that is basically all I can afford to do. : )

As we head off into Christmas I am happy that I have a pretty loving and decently functioning family. We might be as poor as dirt but we enjoy each other pretty well! It has been great to have Maddi and Dimitri join the family along with my oldest son. John and I are looking forward in facing the future and what life might bring. We know life will get better sooner than later. Our current struggle for money has to do with so many people in the house and I was the only one working for awhile. Jerrin was able to get a small, part-time job at FedEx for the holidays while Maddi got a job at Subway and recently got a second job at Circle K. That girl has an amazing work ethic. Her parent should be proud! Dimitri helps a LOT around the house and with the children. John is busy with the children doing school work and getting their doctor appointment taken care of while I work. Life is good, eveyone has a place in my crowded house...